It’s difficult growing up with a mom who is not very grown up herself. Connie and Lily were born when their mother, Lorraine, was barely out of her teenage years. Lorraine was not married to either girl’s father, and the shame of that probably killed Lorraine’s mother, according to community opinion in little Carlington, North Carolina. Some women in Lorraine’s position would have left town, but not Lorraine. She continued to live in the grand house that she inherited, supporting herself first by selling the antiques in the house, and later, developing a fair business in antiques and collectibles. In her free time, she went out to the roadhouses in Carlington and nearby towns looking for the male attention that she craved.

Connie and Lily learned to juggle school, helping out in the antiques business, and working around their mother’s moods and drinking. It wasn’t a comfortable situation, but the girls were close to each other and that was a help, especially to Lily. When Lorraine kicked Connie out of the house, Lily could have left with Connie, but she didn’t. Lily is not sure she made the right decision. The book follows Lily as she ties to adjust to life at home with Lorraine and Lorraine’s boyfriend and to reconnect with Connie. Although this is chiefly Lily’s story, readers also can follow Connie as she too makes her way to adulthood